Crystal Mortem
by Rachel Willows
Summary: Aramea is asked to help a mysterious young man, Marcus, with his mission to seek out and retrieve age old materia and the memories stored inside of it. What they find however, might turn out to be more than either of them can handle.


She approached the object slowly, unsure of what to think or do. The crystal glowed faintly, but strong enough to give an eery glow to the small section of cave that she had entered. "Well? Is this what we've been looking for?" Her companion asked, his smooth voice echoing in the dark cavern.

"Yes." She responded, still watching the way the light reflected off the cavern walls. "Finally," He barely whispered.

"Be careful," She warned him warily. "We still don't know if the memories are stable enough to be extracted." He reached a hand towards the source of the light. "But we've been searching for this crystal for so long. We can't just leave without anything." He looked over at her, a certain gleam in his eye, and she knew what it meant. "Think about it, the secrets of the Ancients could be in this crystal, just waiting to be recovered."

"I'm excited too, but not enough to risk our well being." She insisted, shaking her head. He had always been too eager for his own good. "We both know what can happen if we access fragmented memories." Then, slowly, the light started to fade. His eyes widened. "The crystal is dying." He turned to her, reaching out a hand. She stared at it reluctantly, unsure of what to do. If they waited too long, the memories would be lost forever, but if they were too late, instead of safely retrieving the thoughts, they would die along with the crystal.

"Dammit!" He yelled. "We don't have much time!" She glared at him and grabbed his hand, placing her other hand onto the glassy surface of the light green crystal. He placed his other hand on the crystal as well, and they both closed their eyes.

They'd connected to the memories within seconds. Discarding any unnecessary thoughts, she dove deeper into the crystal with her mind, subsequently getting closer to the oldest memories stored inside of it.

But just as she was about to reach her destination, something pushed back. It was the crystal. It was slowly cutting itself off from her, preparing to return the memories to the lifestream, where they would be forever lost to the living.

Knowing that if she remained connected to the crystal she would be brought into the lifestream as well, she took as many memories as she could as she was forced back into her own body. She finally opened her eyes to an almost black aura surrounding her body; the only light in the small cave was fading quickly with the crystal.

"We did the best we could." She said, attempting to release her companion's hand. But he didn't let go. She realized he was still connected with the crystal. She froze with panic for a split second, then tugged on his arm, trying to wake him up.

"Snap out of it!" She yelled, starting to hyperventilate. "Come on, please!"

The light was almost completely gone now, and his hand started to grow cold. "Please, wake up!" In a final effort, she grabbed his other hand and started trying to pry it from the crystal's surface.

But she was too late. The crystal died, and he collapsed along with it.

_ "Marcus!"_

Aramea jerked up, panting, and covered in sweat. "Arie?" Sephiroth's soothing voice said, sounding more worried than she had ever heard it sound before. She turned around to face him, then wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him tightly.

"I had a bad dream," She said, pressing her face against his warm chest. Sephiroth held her close, stroking her hair. "What was it about?" He asked. She closed her eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it." Sephiroth nodded . "I understand. It's ok now, it was just a dream." She shook her head. "No," He paused. "What?" She shook her head again. "No, I don't think it was just a dream." She let go of him and got up out of bed. "What are you doing?" Sephiroth asked, watching as she pulled a robe over her nightgown. "I'm starting my day. I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep."

* * *

"Good morning Aramea," Addy greeted her as she walked into the office to see Reeve. "Good morning." She smiled and waved back, immediately moving her hand to her mouth to hide a yawn, as she proceeded past the front desk. She knocked lightly on the door, waiting for a moment. After a short wait, Reeve had opened the door and invited her in.

"It's good to see you Aramea," He said quaintly as he closed the door behind them. "I have to apologize for calling on such short notice though." She smiled. "It's not a problem." He smiled and nodded, heading back to his desk, which had two large chairs set in front of it. "I'm sure you understand that I have a reason for this though." He said in an apologetic tone. " I received a call from a young gentleman this morning, who requires your assistance." Aramea raised a brow. "With what, exactly?"

"Well that's a hard question to answer, isn't it?" Came a voice that she recognized. She turned to see that the door was open again, and a man with a fedora hat was leaning against the frame. As soon as they made eye contact, he stood straight and removed his hat, holding out a hand to her. "Why is it hard?" He grinned, "Because I'm not exactly sure myself."

She simply stood there, staring at him, slightly dumbfounded.

"Marcus?"


End file.
